Pierce the VeilMisadventures

Pierce the Veil emerged with A Flair for the Dramatic in 2007, a climactic time for the post-hardcore genre, as mainstays such as Silverstein and Enter Shikari delivered some of their most revered material the very same year. Even as newcomers to an exploding scene, Pierce the Veil made a name for themselves — until they went silent for nearly half a decade following their 2012 offering, Collide with the Sky.

However, with the release of their long-awaited Misadventures, the San Diego four-piece are back to claim their spot among the genre's top acts. The album leads with the spiralling guitar of "Dive In" before welcoming Vic Fuentes back to the mic. His crooning is familiar, but sharper now; he maintains stellar vocal performances throughout, dropping effortlessly from his head voice to guttural wails.

Album centrepiece "Circles" is a punchy tune, with upbeat choruses and a sugary bridge that best demonstrate Pierce the Veil's developing pop sensibility. It's certainly the record's catchiest track, and it's followed immediately by the highlight "Today I Saw the Whole World," which captures all of Misadventures' angst in its pseudo-breakdown and releases it with a powerful outro.

Sometimes the melodrama is enough to cringe at; sometimes the sultriness is enough to make you blush. Sometimes, this happens simultaneously, as in "The Divine Zero," when Fuentes sings, "Wild eyes of terror pray for sex on the beach while oceans of kerosene will sink into me." Overall though, Misadventures is an impeccably polished take on that sort of emotive sing-scream stuff that fans will love.
(Fearless)